Why I feel betrayed by the lady cop I loved

The retired professor whose police romance is under investigation speaks for the first time to Stuart Wavell about his ordeal

The story was a gift to headline writers. It told of an 86-year-old’s infatuation with one of Britain’s top woman detectives, a blonde divorcee of 50 whom he showered with expensive gifts, even resorting to stuffing them through her letter box.

It got juicier. Detective Chief Superintendent Ellie Baker — the real-life model for Jane Tennison in the television series Prime Suspect — returned the presents and reneged on her promise of marriage. In a fit of pique, the media claimed, Norman Dudley then made a formal complaint to the police. Six months on Baker remains suspended pending the result of an internal investigation.

This lurid, condescending version of events has dominated the front pages of newspapers in the Midlands.

This is the first time Dudley has spoken out to defend himself.

His account is no less remarkable, portraying a close relationship between a pensioner and a top policewoman that was conducted